Matthaus: Karius Could Earn a Place in Klopp's Germany Squad

In Saturday evening's Bundesliga headline clash, Schalke goalkeeper Karius made several brilliant saves to keep a clean sheet, helping his team shut out Bayern and ending Bayern's record of scoring in 47 consecutive Bundesliga matches. Former Germany star and current commentator Matthaus believes the goalkeeper, who was named the best player of the match after the game, is a genuine candidate for a national team call-up and for gaining Klopp's favor.

Schalke 04 almost completed the impossible task on Saturday by leaving Bayern empty-handed in Gelsenkirchen. Since Bayer Leverkusen in the 2024/25 season, Schalke 04 became the first team to prevent Bayern from scoring in a league match. That match at the BayArena ended in a 0-0 draw.

Since that 0-0 draw at Leverkusen, Bayern had scored in 47 consecutive Bundesliga matches. During that period, there were only four matches in which Bayern scored just one goal. In the other 43 matches, players such as Harry Kane scored at least two goals in each game.

Karius 'automatically enters the spotlight'

Schalke 04 owed this valuable point to Karius. The 33-year-old goalkeeper saved dangerous efforts from Lennart Karl (3rd minute), Nathaniel Brown (13th minute), and Harry Kane (87th minute). After the match, he was named the best player on the pitch. Matthaus personally presented the award to the goalkeeper and praised the veteran highly.

"He fully deserved this award, not only because of those two world-class saves but also because of the calmness he showed," the Sky Sports expert praised the former Liverpool goalkeeper. "Schalke 04's players have a lot of confidence in him. That is important because it means he can continue to provide more help for the team." Matthaus then added that if Karius regularly produces performances like this, he would also become a candidate for the national team.

Matthaus explained that if someone delivers this kind of performance in the Bundesliga, they will "automatically enter the spotlight," adding: "A performance like today will certainly help him continue to push the door open." On September 17, Klopp will announce his first squad list after taking charge of Germany. Matthaus believes it would not be completely impossible for the new Germany head coach to consider including Karius at that time.